1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coin mechanisms useful in the vending machine industry, and more particularly, is directed to a coin slide guard suitable for use to protect mounting flanges of coin slides of the type recently designed and developed to accept a plurality of coins in vertical orientation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Coin slides have long been utilized in the vending machine industry to initiate numerous types of coin operated mechanisms. The prior art coin slides have increasingly been improved to include better means to check the coins for denomination and authenticity prior to vending and to store the coins received by the coin slide in a locked container for later collection by the owner or manager of the vending operation. More recently, as prices have begun to vary with increasing rapidity, and as vending operations have become more costly, coins slides capable of accepting increased numbers of coins have been developed. Most recent improvements in the coin slide industry have been directed toward accepting coins in vertical orientation in a manner to conserve space and to provide a device that is both compact and reliable.
In the coin slides disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,350,240 and 4,515,262, which patents are owned by the assignee of the present application, vertical type coin slides are disclosed which are characterized by a body having an integral mounting flange for securing the coin slide to a vertical panel of a vending machine in a usual manner. A slide including a forward handle is movable longitudinally relative to the body for vending machine operational purposes upon the insertion of the correct number and correct denomination of coins. The coins are received in vertical orientation in suitably dimensioned openings in the slide and extend upwardly therefrom prior to vending. Upon insertion of the correct number and denomination of coins, the slide can then be pushed inwardly past the mounting flange for internal checking and coin receiving prior to initiation of the vending operation. Accordingly, the flange must be provided with a plurality of properly sized slots in alignment with the coin receiving openings in the slide to allow the coins to pass through the flange during the initiation of the vending operation. These slots are defined by vertically depending teeth, which teeth are transversely spaced across the mounting flange.
It is currently the usual practice to fabricate the coin slide bodies and flanges using the die cast process whereby the precise configurations required for proper operation can be accurately formed by utilizing this technique. While the use of die cast metal is advantageous for its ability to be formed to exact and well-defined configurations, such use is limited in certain applications because it is also a relatively weak material. The vertical projections or teeth formed in the flange to define the required coin passage slots are narrow in dimensions and represent the weakest part of the exposed portions of the coin slide. These teeth or projections are known to be subject to attack by readily available tools, such as a simple screw driver. This enables a determined thief to provide an enlarged opening through which the internal mechanism can be reached. Despite the advantage and improvements offered by the newer types of vertical coin slides in better coin checking and in ease in price changing, the need remains to additionally protect the relatively weaker portions of the die cast flange.